Search results for: rate of return

Authors: Sayantika Biswas, Dipanshu Sur, Amitoj Athwal, Ratnabali Chakravorty

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Title: Impact of serum estrogen and progesterone levels in the outcome pregnancy rate in frozen embryo transfer cycles. A prospective cohort study Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of serum estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) levels at different time points on pregnancy outcomes in frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles. Materials & Method: A prospective cohort study was performed in patients undergoing frozen embryo transfer. Patients under age 37 years of age with at least one good blastocyst or three good day 3 embryos were included in the study. For endometrial preparation, 14 days of oral estradiol use (2X2 mg for 5 days. 3X2 mg for 4 days, and 4X2 mg for 5 days) was followed by vaginal progesterone twice a day and 50 mg intramuscular progesterone twice a day. Embryo transfer was scheduled 72-76 hrs or 116-120hrs after the initiation of progesterone. Serum E2 and P4 levels were examined at 4 times a) at the start of the menstrual cycle prior to the hormone supplementation. b) on the day of P4 start. c) on the day of ET. d) on the third day after ET. Result: A total 41 women were included in this study (mean age 31.8; SD 2.8). Clinical pregnancy rate was 65.55%. Serum E2 levels on at the start of the menstrual cycle prior to the hormone supplementation and on the day of P4 start were high in patients who achieved pregnancy compared to who did not (P=0.005 and P=0.019 respectively). P4 levels on on the day of ET were also high in patients with clinical pregnancy. On the day of P4 start, a serum E2 threshold of 186.4 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 82%, and P4 had a sensitivity of 71% for the prediction of clinical pregnancy at the threshold value 16.00 ng/ml. Conclusion: In women undergoing FET with hormone replacement, serum E2 level >186.4 pg/ml on the day of the start of progesterone and serum P4 levels >16.00 ng/ml on embryo transfer day are associated with clinical pregnancy.

Keywords: serum estradiol, serum progesterone, clinical pregnancy, frozen embryo transfer

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Authors: Nzereogu Stella Kosi, Igwe Ogbonnaya, Emeh Chukwuebuka Odinaka

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A comparative analysis of the expansion rate and soil erodibility of some gullies in Nnewi and Nnobi both of Nanka Formation were studied. The study involved an integration of field observations, geotechnical analysis, slope stability analysis, multivariate statistical analysis, gully expansion rate analysis, and determination of the soil erodibility factor (K) from Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Fifteen representative gullies were studied extensively, and results reveal that the geotechnical properties of the soil, topography, vegetation cover, rainfall intensity, and the anthropogenic activities in the study area were major factors propagating and influencing the erodibility of the soils. The specific gravity of the soils ranged from 2.45-2.66 and 2.54-2.78 for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively. Grain size distribution analysis revealed that the soils are composed of gravel (5.77-17.67%), sand (79.90-91.01%), and fines (2.36-4.05%) for Nnewi and gravel (7.01-13.65%), sand (82.47-88.67%), and fines (3.78-5.02%) for Nnobi. The soils are moderately permeable with values ranging from 2.92 x 10-5 - 6.80 x 10-4 m/sec and 2.35 x 10-6 - 3.84 x 10⁻⁴m/sec for Nnewi and Nnobi respectively. All have low cohesion values ranging from 1–5kPa and 2-5kPa and internal friction angle ranging from 29-38° and 30-34° for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively, which suggests that the soils have low shear strength and are susceptible to shear failure. Furthermore, the compaction test revealed that the soils were loose and easily erodible with values of maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture content (OMC) ranging from 1.82-2.11g/cm³ and 8.20-17.81% for Nnewi and 1.98-2.13g/cm³ and 6.00-17.80% respectively. The plasticity index (PI) of the fines showed that they are nonplastic to low plastic soils and highly liquefiable with values ranging from 0-10% and 0-9% for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to establish relationship among the determined parameters. Slope stability analysis gave factor of safety (FoS) values in the range of 0.50-0.76 and 0.82-0.95 for saturated condition and 0.73-0.98 and 0.87-1.04 for unsaturated condition for both Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively indicating that the slopes are generally unstable to critically stable. The erosion expansion rate analysis for a fifteen-year period (2005-2020) revealed an average longitudinal expansion rate of 36.05m/yr, 10.76m/yr, and 183m/yr for Nnewi, Nnobi, and Nanka type gullies, respectively. The soil erodibility factor (K) are 8.57x10⁻² and 1.62x10-4 for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively, indicating that the soils in Nnewi have higher erodibility potentials than those of Nnobi. From the study, both the Nnewi and Nnobi areas are highly prone to erosion. However, based on the relatively lower fine content of the soil, relatively lower topography, steeper slope angle, and sparsely vegetated terrain in Nnewi, soil erodibility and gully intensity are more profound in Nnewi than Nnobi.

Keywords: soil erodibility, gully expansion, nnewi-nnobi, slope stability, factor of safety

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Authors: N. Renuka, R. Ramesh Babu, N. Vijayan

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Ion beams play a significant role in the process of tuning the properties of materials. Based on the radiation behavior, the engineering materials are categorized into two different types. The first one comprises organic solids which are sensitive to the energy deposited in their electronic system and the second one comprises metals which are insensitive to the energy deposited in their electronic system. However, exposure to swift heavy ions alters this general behavior. Depending on the mass, kinetic energy and nuclear charge, an ion can produce modifications within a thin surface layer or it can penetrate deeply to produce long and narrow distorted area along its path. When a high energetic ion beam impinges on a material, it causes two different types of changes in the material due to the columbic interaction between the target atom and the energetic ion beam: (i) inelastic collisions of the energetic ion with the atomic electrons of the material; and (ii) elastic scattering from the nuclei of the atoms of the material, which is extremely responsible for relocating the atoms of matter from their lattice position. The exposure of the heavy ions renders the material return to equilibrium state during which the material undergoes surface and bulk modifications which depends on the mass of the projectile ion, physical properties of the target material, its energy, and beam dimension. It is well established that electronic stopping power plays a major role in the defect creation mechanism provided it exceeds a threshold which strongly depends on the nature of the target material. There are reports available on heavy ion irradiation especially on crystalline materials to tune their physical and chemical properties. L-Arginine Acetate [LAA] is a potential semi-organic nonlinear optical crystal and its optical, mechanical and thermal properties have already been reported The main objective of the present work is to enhance or tune the structural and optical properties of LAA single crystals by heavy ion irradiation. In the present study, a potential nonlinear optical single crystal, L-arginine acetate (LAA) was grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The grown LAA single crystal was irradiated with oxygen ions at the dose rate of 600 krad and 1M rad in order to tune the structural and optical properties. The structural properties of pristine and oxygen ions irradiated LAA single crystals were studied using Powder X- ray diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared spectral studies which reveal the structural changes that are generated due to irradiation. Optical behavior of pristine and oxygen ions irradiated crystals is studied by UV-Vis-NIR and photoluminescence analyses. From this investigation we can concluded that oxygen ions irradiation modifies the structural and optical properties of LAA single crystals.

Keywords: heavy ion irradiation, NLO single crystal, photoluminescence, X-ray diffractometer

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Salima R. Rajwani, Tazeen Ali, Rubina Barolia, Yasmin Parpio, Nasreen Alwani, Salima B. Virani

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Introduction: Nurses and physicians have a critical role in initiating lifesaving interventions during cardiac arrest. It is important that timely delivery of high quality Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) with advanced resuscitation skills and management of cardiac arrhythmias is a key dimension of code during cardiac arrest. It will decrease the chances of patient survival if the healthcare professionals are unable to initiate CPR timely. Moreover, traditional training will not prepare physicians and nurses at a competent level and their knowledge level declines over a period of time. In this regard, simulation training has been proven to be effective in promoting resuscitation skills. Simulation teaching learning strategy improves knowledge level, and skills performance during resuscitation through experiential learning without compromising patient safety in real clinical situations. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support Courses by using the selfefficacy tool. Methods: The study design is a quantitative research design and non-randomized quasi-experimental study design. The study examined the effectiveness of simulation through self-efficacy in two instructional methods; one is Medium Fidelity Simulation (MFS) and second is Traditional Training Method (TTM). The sample size was 220. Data was compiled by using the SPSS tool. The standardized simulation based training increases self-efficacy, knowledge, and skills and improves the management of patients in actual resuscitation. Results: 153 students participated in study; CG: n = 77 and EG: n = 77. The comparison was done between arms in pre and post-test. (F value was 1.69, p value is <0.195 and df was 1). There was no significant difference between arms in the pre and post-test. The interaction between arms was observed and there was no significant difference in interaction between arms in the pre and post-test. (F value was 0.298, p value is <0.586 and df is 1. However, the results showed self-efficacy scores were significantly higher within experimental group in post-test in advanced cardiac life support resuscitation courses as compared to Traditional Training Method (TTM) and had overall (p <0.0001) and F value was 143.316 (mean score was 45.01 and SD was 9.29) verses pre-test result showed (mean score was 31.15 and SD was 12.76) as compared to TTM in post-test (mean score was 29.68 and SD was 14.12) verses pre-test result showed (mean score was 42.33 and SD was 11.39). Conclusion: The standardized simulation-based training was conducted in the safe learning environment in Advanced Cardiac Life Suport Courses and physicians and nurses benefited from self-confidence, early identification of life-threatening scenarios, early initiation of CPR, and provides high-quality CPR, timely administration of medication and defibrillation, appropriate airway management, rhythm analysis and interpretation, and Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC), team dynamics, debriefing, and teaching and learning strategies that will improve the patient survival in actual resuscitation.

Keywords: advanced cardiac life support, cardio pulmonary resuscitation, return of spontaneous circulation, simulation

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Authors: Darren Camilleri, Robert Rolston

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Rotor radial vents make use of the pumping effect to increase airflow through the active material thus reduce hotspot temperatures. The effect of rotor radial pumping in synchronous machines has been studied previously. This paper presents the findings of previous studies and builds upon their theories using a parametric numerical approach to investigate the rotor radial pumping effect. The pressure head generated by the poles and radial vent flow-rate were identified as important factors in maximizing the benefits of the pumping effect. The use of Minitab and ANSYS Workbench to investigate the key performance characteristics of radial pumping through a Design of Experiments (DOE) was described. CFD results were compared with theoretical calculations. A correlation for each response variable was derived through a statistical analysis. Findings confirmed the strong dependence of radial vent length on vent pressure head, and radial vent cross-sectional area was proved to be significant in maximising radial vent flow rate.

Keywords: CFD, cooling, electrical machines, regression analysis

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Authors: Chien-Wan Hun, Shao-Fu Chang, Chien-Chon Chen, Ker-Jer Huang

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This study presents how to use a high-efficiency process for producing cesium iodide (CsI) crystal columns by rapid heating method. In the past, the heating rate of the resistance wire heating furnace was relatively slow and excessive iodine and CsI vapors were therefore generated during heating. Because much iodine and CsI vapors are produced during heating process, the composition of CsI crystal columns is not correct. In order to enhance the heating rate, making CsI material in the heating process can quickly reach the melting point temperature. This study replaced the traditional type of external resistance heating furnace with halogen-type quartz heater, and then, CsI material can quickly reach the melting point. Eventually, CsI melt can solidify in the anodic aluminum template forming CsI crystal columns.

Keywords: cesium iodide, high efficiency, vapor, rapid heating, crystal column

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Authors: M. I. Equbal, R. K. Ohdar, B. Singh, P. Talukdar

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Micro-alloyed steel components are used in automotive industry for the necessity to make the manufacturing process cycles shorter when compared to conventional steel by eliminating heat treatment cycles, so an important saving of costs and energy can be reached by reducing the number of operations. Micro-alloying elements like vanadium, niobium or titanium have been added to medium carbon steels to achieve grain refinement with or without precipitation strengthening along with uniform microstructure throughout the matrix. Present study reports the applicability of medium carbon vanadium micro-alloyed steel in hot forging. Forgeability has been determined with respect to different cooling rates, after forging in a hydraulic press at 50% diameter reduction in temperature range of 900-11000C. Final microstructures, hardness, tensile strength, and impact strength have been evaluated. The friction coefficients of different lubricating conditions, viz., graphite in hydraulic oil, graphite in furnace oil, DF 150 (Graphite, Water-Based) die lubricant and dry or without any lubrication were obtained from the ring compression test for the above micro-alloyed steel. Results of ring compression tests indicate that graphite in hydraulic oil lubricant is preferred for free forging and dry lubricant is preferred for die forging operation. Exceptionally good forgeability and high resistance to fracture, especially for faster cooling rate has been observed for fine equiaxed ferrite-pearlite grains, some amount of bainite and fine precipitates of vanadium carbides and carbonitrides. The results indicated that the cooling rate has a remarkable effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties at room temperature.

Keywords: cooling rate, hot forging, micro-alloyed, ring compression

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Koushki Ardestani, Saeed Daneshmand, Mohammad Heydari Vini

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In the present study, AA7075/SiO2 composites have been fabricated via liquid metallurgy process. Using the degassing process, the wet ability of the molten aluminum alloys increased which improved the bonding between aluminum matrix and reinforcement (SiO2) particles. AA7075 alloy and SiO2 particles were taken as the base matrix and reinforcements, respectively. Then, contents of 2.5 and 5 wt. % of SiO2 subdivisions were added into the AA7075 matrix. To improve wettability and distribution, reinforcement particles were pre-heated to a temperature of 550°C for each composite sample. A uniform distribution of SiO2 particles was observed through the matrix alloy in the microstructural study. A hardened EN32 steel disc as the counter face was used to evaluate the wear rate pin-on-disc, a wear testing machine containing. The results showed that the wear rate of the AA/SiO2 composites was lesser than that of the monolithic AA7075 samples. Finally, The SEM worn surfaces of samples were investigated.

Keywords: Al7075, SiO₂, wear, composites, stir casting

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Authors: Yuguang Gao, Mingtao Deng

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The integration of independently operating hospitals into a unified healthcare service system has become a strategic imperative in the pursuit of hospitals’ high-quality development. Central to the concept of group governance over such transformation, exemplified by a collaborative medical alliance, is the delineation of shared value, vision, and goals. Given the inherent disparity in capabilities among hospitals within the alliance, particularly in the treatment of different diseases characterized by Disease Related Groups (DRG) in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and resource utilization, this study aims to address the centralized decision-making of intra-hospital patient referral within the medical alliance to enhance the overall production and quality of service provided. We first introduce the notion of production utility, where a higher production utility for a hospital implies better performance in treating patients diagnosed with that specific DRG group of diseases. Then, a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) framework is established for patient referral among hospitals, where patient flow modeling incorporates a queueing system with fixed capacities for each hospital. The simulation study begins with a two-member alliance. The pivotal strategy examined is a "whether-to-refer" decision triggered when the bed usage rate surpasses a predefined threshold for either hospital. Then, the decision encompasses referring patients to the other hospital based on DRG groups’ production utility differentials as well as bed availability. The objective is to maximize the total production utility of the alliance while minimizing patients’ average length of stay and turnover rate. Thus the parameter under scrutiny is the bed usage rate threshold, influencing the efficacy of the referral strategy. Extending the study to a three-member alliance, which could readily be generalized to multi-member alliances, we maintain the core setup while introducing an additional “which-to-refer" decision that involves referring patients with specific DRG groups to the member hospital according to their respective production utility rankings. The overarching goal remains consistent, for which the bed usage rate threshold is once again a focal point for analysis. For the two-member alliance scenario, our simulation results indicate that the optimal bed usage rate threshold hinges on the discrepancy in the number of beds between member hospitals, the distribution of DRG groups among incoming patients, and variations in production utilities across hospitals. Transitioning to the three-member alliance, we observe similar dependencies on these parameters. Additionally, it becomes evident that an imbalanced distribution of DRG diagnoses and further disparity in production utilities among member hospitals may lead to an increase in the turnover rate. In general, it was found that the intra-hospital referral mechanism enhances the overall production utility of the medical alliance compared to individual hospitals without partnership. Patients’ average length of stay is also reduced, showcasing the positive impact of the collaborative approach. However, the turnover rate exhibits variability based on parameter setups, particularly when patients are redirected within the alliance. In conclusion, the re-structuring of diagnostic disease groups within the medical alliance proves instrumental in improving overall healthcare service outcomes, providing a compelling rationale for the government's promotion of patient referrals within collaborative medical alliances.

Keywords: collaborative medical alliance, disease related group, patient referral, simulation

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Authors: Salah Al-Din I. Badran, Samad Ahmadi, Ismail Shahin

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A blind source separation method is proposed; in this method we use a non-uniform filter bank and a novel normalisation. This method provides a reduced computational complexity and increased convergence speed comparing to the full-band algorithm. Recently, adaptive sub-band scheme has been recommended to solve two problems: reduction of computational complexity and increase the convergence speed of the adaptive algorithm for correlated input signals. In this work the reduction in computational complexity is achieved with the use of adaptive filters of orders less than the full-band adaptive filters, which operate at a sampling rate lower than the sampling rate of the input signal. The decomposed signals by analysis bank filter are less correlated in each sub-band than the input signal at full bandwidth, and can promote better rates of convergence.

Keywords: blind source separation, computational complexity, subband, convergence speed, mixture

Procedia PDF Downloads 536

Authors: Wittawat Wasusathien, Samran Santalunai, Thanaset Thosdeekoraphat, Chanchai Thongsopa

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This paper presents breast cancer detection by observing the specific absorption rate (SAR) intensity for identification tumor location, the tumor is identified in coordinates (x,y,z) system. We examined the frequency between 4-8 GHz to look for the most appropriate frequency. Results are simulated in frequency 4-8 GHz, the model overview include normal breast with 50 mm radian, 5 mm diameter of tumor, and ultra wideband (UWB) bowtie antenna. The models are created and simulated in CST Microwave Studio. For this simulation, we changed antenna to 5 location around the breast, the tumor can be detected when an antenna is close to the tumor location, which the coordinate of maximum SAR is approximated the tumor location. For reliable, we experiment by random tumor location to 3 position in the same size of tumor and simulation the result again by varying the antenna position in 5 position again, and it also detectable the tumor position from the antenna that nearby tumor position by maximum value of SAR, which it can be detected the tumor with precision in all frequency between 4-8 GHz.

Keywords: specific absorption rate (SAR), ultra wideband (UWB), coordinates, cancer detection

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Authors: Awais Ahmad, Mudssar Ali

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Berseem is the major fodder crop grown in Pakistan and is highly preferred by cattle farmers due to its multicut nature and nutritious value. The quality seed production in berseem is largely dependent upon the activities of insect pollinators, particularly bees. In order to determine the effectiveness of native bee species in quality seed production of berseem, an experiment was conducted in the research field of MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. The pollinator community of berseem was composed of four bees, three syrphid fly, and two butterfly species. Pesudapis sp. was the most abundant insect visitor, followed by Apis mellifera and A. dorsata. The visitation rate of A. mellifera was found highest, followed by Pesudapis sp. and A. dorsata. Moreover, single-visit efficacy in terms of seed per head and 1000 seed weight proved A. mellifera and Pesudapis sp as the most effective pollinators. Conserving these bee species may lead to sustainable berseem seed production in Pakistan.

Keywords: honey bees, syrphid fly, visitation rate, single visit

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Authors: Thanh Nguyen, Andrei Doncescu, Pierre Siegel

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Classification is an important data mining technique and could be used as data filtering in artificial intelligence. The broad application of classification for all kind of data leads to be used in nearly every field of our modern life. Classification helps us to put together different items according to the feature items decided as interesting and useful. In this paper, we compare two classification methods Naïve Bayes and ADTree use to detect spam e-mail. This choice is motivated by the fact that Naive Bayes algorithm is based on probability calculus while ADTree algorithm is based on decision tree. The parameter settings of the above classifiers use the maximization of true positive rate and minimization of false positive rate. The experiment results present classification accuracy and cost analysis in view of optimal classifier choice for Spam Detection. It is point out the number of attributes to obtain a tradeoff between number of them and the classification accuracy.

Keywords: classification, data mining, spam filtering, naive bayes, decision tree

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Authors: Jaswinder Kumar, Kulbir Singh Sandhu

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Friction stir processing (FSP) is a solid-state surface processing technique. A single-pass FSP was performed on Aluminum alloy at combinations of different tool rotational speeds with cylindrical threaded pin profiled tool. The effect of these parameters on tribological properties was studied. The wear resistance is found to be increased from base metal to a single pass FSP sample. The results revealed that with an increase in tool rotational speed, the wear rate increases. The high heat generation causes matrix softening, which results in an increased wear rate; on the other hand, high heat generation leads to coarse grains, which also affected tribological properties. Furthermore, Microstructure results showed that FSPed alloy has a more refined grain structure as compare to the base material, which may be resulted in enhancement of hardness and resistance to wear in FSP.

Keywords: friction stir processing, aluminium alloy, microhardness, microstructure

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Authors: Mani Mofidi, Neda Valizadeh, Ali Hashemaghaee, Mona Hashemaghaee, Soudabeh Shafiee Ardestani

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Background: Acute pain and its management remained the most complaint of emergency service admission. Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures add to patients’ pain. Diminishing the pain increases the quality of patient’s feeling and improves the patient-physician relationship. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and side effects of opioid administration in emergency patients. Material and Methods: patients admitted to ward II emergency service of Imam Khomeini hospital, who received one of the opioids: morphine, pethidine, methadone or fentanyl as an analgesic were evaluated. Their vital signs and general condition were examined before and after drug injection. Also, patient’s pain experience were recorded as numerical rating score (NRS) before and after analgesic administration. Results: 268 patients were studied. 34 patients were addicted to opioid drugs. Morphine had the highest rate of prescription (86.2%), followed by pethidine (8.5%), methadone (3.3%) and fentanyl (1.68). While initial NRS did not show significant difference between addicted patients and non-addicted ones, NRS decline and its score after drug injection were significantly lower in addicted patients. All patients had slight but statistically significant lower respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure and O2 saturation. There was no significant difference between different kind of opioid prescription and its outcomes or side effects. Conclusion: Pain management should be always in physicians’ mind during emergency admissions. It should not be assumed that an addicted patient complaining of pain is malingering to receive drug. Titration of drug and close monitoring must be in the curriculum to prevent any hazardous side effects.

Keywords: numerical rating score, opioid, pain, emergency department

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Authors: Retno Ambarwati Sigit Lestari

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Microalga is one of the organisms that can be considered ideal and potential for raw material of bioenergy production, because the content of lipids in microalga is relatively high. Microalga is an aquatic organism that produces complex organic compounds from inorganic molecules using carbon dioxide as a carbon source, and sunlight for energy supply. Microalga-CO₂ fixation has potential advantages over other carbon captures and storage approaches, such as wide distribution, high photosynthetic rate, good environmental adaptability, and ease of operation. The rates of growth and CO₂ capture of microalga are influenced by CO₂ concentration and light intensity. This study quantitatively investigates the effects of CO₂ concentration on the rates of growth and CO₂ capture of a type of microalga, cultivated in bioreactors. The works include laboratory experiments as well as mathematical modelling. The mathematical models were solved numerically and the accuracy of the model was tested by the experimental data. It turned out that the mathematical model proposed can well quantitatively describe the growth and CO₂ capture of microalga, in which the effects of CO₂ concentration can be observed.

Keywords: Microalga, CO2 concentration, photobioreactor, mathematical model

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Authors: Jessada Monthasuwan, Charinsak Saetiaw, Chanchai Thongsopa

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This paper presents the development and design of the curved rectangular patch arrays antenna for small missile application. This design uses a 0.1mm flexible copper sheet on the front layer and back layer, and a 1.8mm PVC substrate on a middle layer. The study used a small missile model with 122mm diameter size with speed 1.1 Mach and frequency range on ISM 2.4 GHz. The design of curved antenna can be installation on a cylindrical object like a missile. So, our proposed antenna design will have a small size, lightweight, low cost, and simple structure. The antenna was design and analysis by a simulation result from CST microwave studio and confirmed with a measurement result from a prototype antenna. The proposed antenna has a bandwidth covering the frequency range 2.35-2.48 GHz, the return loss below -10 dB and antenna gain 6.5 dB. The proposed antenna can be applied with a small guided missile effectively.

Keywords: rectangular patch arrays, small missile antenna, antenna design and simulation, cylinder PVC tube

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: Aroona Hashmi

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An economic recession can lead people to feel more insecure about their financial situation. The series of events leading into a recession can be especially distressing for Educated Youth. One of the most salient factors linking economic recession to psychological distress is unemployment. It is proved that a large number of educated young people are facing higher unemployment rate in Pakistan. Young people are likely to get frustrated at the lack of opportunities made available to them. If the young population increases more rapidly than job opportunities, then number of unemployment is likely to increase. The aim of present study was to investigate the relationship between economic instability, growing rate of aggression and frustration among educated youth. The study aimed to find out the impact of increased economic instability on the learning abilities of the students. Data was gathered from six university students of Punjab, Pakistan. The sample of the study consisted of three hundred male and female university students. The data was analyzed by applying Chi -square test. The results of the research indicate that there is a significant relationship between low household income and growing rate of aggression among educated youth. The increasing trend of economic instability significantly influences the learning abilities of the students. The study concludes that feeling of deprivation produce frustration and could be expressed through aggression. Therefore, if factors that are responsible for youth unemployment in Pakistan are addressed, psychological effects will be reduced. The right way of tackling the youth bulge is to turn the youth into a productive workforce. There is a dire need to transform the education system to societal needs. At the same time creating demand for the young workforce is achieved through dynamic changes in the economic structure.

Keywords: psychological effects, economic recession, educated youth, environmental factors

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Authors: Man-Hong Lai, Dinusha S. Gunawardena, Kok-Sing Lim, Harith Ahmad

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In this paper, we have reported birefringence manipulation in regenerated high-birefringent fiber Bragg grating (RPMG) by using CO2 laser annealing method. The results indicate that the birefringence of RPMG remains unchanged after CO2 laser annealing followed by a slow cooling process, but reduced after the fast cooling process (~5.6×10-5). After a series of annealing procedures with different cooling rates, the obtained results show that slower the cooling rate, higher the birefringence of RPMG. The volume, thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) and glass transition temperature (Tg) change of stress applying part in RPMG during the cooling process are responsible for the birefringence change. Therefore, these findings are important to the RPMG sensor in high and dynamic temperature environment. The measuring accuracy, range and sensitivity of RPMG sensor are greatly affected by its birefringence value. This work also opens up a new application of CO2 laser for fiber annealing and birefringence modification.

Keywords: birefringence, CO2 laser annealing, regenerated gratings, thermal stress

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Authors: Rodrigo Arnaldo Scarpel

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Trend following is a widely accepted investment strategy that adopts a rule-based trading mechanism that rather than striving to predict market direction or on information gathering to decide when to buy and when to sell a stock. Thus, in trend following one must respond to market’s movements that has recently happen and what is currently happening, rather than on what will happen. Optimally, in trend following strategy, is to catch a bull market at its early stage, ride the trend, and liquidate the position at the first evidence of the subsequent bear market. For applying the trend following strategy one needs to find the trend and identify trade signals. In order to avoid false signals, i.e., identify fluctuations of short, mid and long terms and to separate noise from real changes in the trend, most academic works rely on moving averages and other technical analysis indicators, such as the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) and the relative strength index (RSI) to uncover intelligible stock trading rules following trend following strategy philosophy. Recently, some works has applied machine learning techniques for trade rules discovery. In those works, the process of rule construction is based on evolutionary learning which aims to adapt the rules to the current environment and searches for the global optimum rules in the search space. In this work, instead of focusing on the usage of machine learning techniques for creating trading rules, a time series trend classification employing a semi-supervised approach was used to early identify both the beginning and the end of upward and downward trends. Such classification model can be employed to identify trade signals and the decision-making procedure is that if an up-trend (down-trend) is identified, a buy (sell) signal is generated. Semi-supervised learning is used for model training when only part of the data is labeled and Semi-supervised classification aims to train a classifier from both the labeled and unlabeled data, such that it is better than the supervised classifier trained only on the labeled data. For illustrating the proposed approach, it was employed daily trade information, including the open, high, low and closing values and volume from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2022, of the São Paulo Exchange Composite index (IBOVESPA). Through this time period it was visually identified consistent changes in price, upwards or downwards, for assigning labels and leaving the rest of the days (when there is not a consistent change in price) unlabeled. For training the classification model, a pseudo-label semi-supervised learning strategy was used employing different technical analysis indicators. In this learning strategy, the core is to use unlabeled data to generate a pseudo-label for supervised training. For evaluating the achieved results, it was considered the annualized return and excess return, the Sortino and the Sharpe indicators. Through the evaluated time period, the obtained results were very consistent and can be considered promising for generating the intended trading signals.

Keywords: evolutionary learning, semi-supervised classification, time series data, trading signals generation

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Authors: Paul Gurr, Maik Moser

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In Europe, some countries recently abolished air passenger taxes (APT), while others issued or consider issuing an APT. From a fiscal perspective, APT can benefit the environment, while generating a vast amount of tax revenue with relatively low administration costs. However, they may have significant negative effects on the economy. Focusing on the German air passenger tax issued 2011, this work estimates the elasticity of tourism outflows using data on passenger departures from German airports between 2010 and 2016 aggregated by destination country. The results are obtained by estimating a model of the demand for outbound tourism. In line with theory, the regression results indicate a negative relationship between taxes and departures from Germany. Furthermore, on average, an increase of the air passenger tax rate results in a relatively higher decrease of passenger departures. The elasticity of tourism outflows can be used to estimate tax revenue changes and hence evaluate possible policy actions. Neglecting environmental reasons, the results suggest that tax revenue might be maximized by reducing the air passenger tax rate. Besides Germany, this work is also important for countries which have or consider implementing APT.

Keywords: air passenger tax, Germany, Outbound tourism, panel data

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: D. Farsi, G. Dokhtvasi, S. Abbasi, S. Shafiee Ardestani, E. Payani

Abstract:

Background and aim:It has not been well studied whether fentanyl-thiopental (FT) is effective and safe for PSA in orthopedic procedures in Emergency Department (ED). The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous FTversusfentanyl-midazolam (FM)in patients who suffered from shoulder dislocation or distal radial fracture-dislocation. Methods:In this randomized double-blinded study, Seventy-six eligible patients were entered the study and randomly received intravenous FT or FM. The success rate, onset of action and recovery time, pain score, physicians’ satisfaction and adverse events were assessed and recorded by treating emergency physicians. The statistical analysis was intention to treat. Results: The success rate after administrating loading dose in FT group was significantly higher than FM group (71.7% vs. 48.9%, p=0.04); however, the ultimate unsuccess rate after 3 doses of drugs in the FT group was higher than the FM group (3 to 1) but it did not reach to significant level (p=0.61). Despite near equal onset of action time in two study group (P=0.464), the recovery period in patients receiving FT was markedly shorter than FM group (P<0.001). The occurrence of adverse effects was low in both groups (p=0.31). Conclusion: PSA using FT is effective and appears to be safe for orthopedic procedures in the ED. Therefore, regarding the prompt onset of action, short recovery period of thiopental, it seems that this combination can be considered more for performing PSA in orthopedic procedures in ED.

Keywords: procedural sedation and analgesia, thiopental, fentanyl, midazolam, orthopedic procedure, emergency department, pain

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Ching Yern Chee

Abstract:

Various loading of nano silica is added into polyurethane (PU) and then coated on porcelain substrate. The wear and friction properties of the porcelain substrates coated with polyurethane/nano silica nano composite coatings were investigated using the reciprocating wear testing machine. The friction and wear test of polyurethane/nano silica coated porcelain substrate was studied at different sliding speed and applied load. It was found that the optimum composition of nano silica is 3 wt% which gives the lowest friction coefficient and wear rate in all applied load ranges and sliding speeds. For 3 wt% nano silica filled PU coated porcelain substrate, the increment of sliding speed caused higher wear rates but lower frictions coefficient. Besides, the friction coefficient of nano silica filled PU coated porcelain substrate decreased but the wear rate increased with the applied load.

Keywords: porcelain, nanocomposite coating, morphology, friction, wear behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 514

Authors: Mauricio Cruz, Andrés Díaz García, Martha Isabel Gómez, Juan Carlos Serrato Bermúdez

Abstract:

The disadvantages of using natural substrates in SSF processes have been well recognized and mainly are associated to gradual decomposition of the substrate, formation of agglomerates and decrease of porosity bed generating limitations in the mass and heat transfer. Additionally, in several cases, materials with a high agricultural value such as sour milk, beets, rice, beans and corn have been used. Thus, the use of economic inert supports (natural or synthetic) in combination with a nutrient suspension for the production of biocontrol microorganisms is a good alternative in SSF processes, but requires further studies in the fields of modeling and optimization. Therefore, the aim of this work is to compare the performance of two inert supports, a synthetic (polyurethane foam) and a natural one (rice husk), identifying the factors that have the major effects on the productivity of T. asperellum Th204 and the maximum specific growth rate in a PROPHYTA L05® fixed bed bioreactor. For this, the six factors C:N ratio, temperature, inoculation rate, bed height, air moisture content and airflow were evaluated using a fractional design. The factors C:N and air flow were identified as significant on the productivity (expressed as conidia/dry substrate•h). The polyurethane foam showed higher maximum specific growth rate (0.1631 h-1) and productivities of 3.89 x107 conidia/dry substrate•h compared to rice husk (2.83x106) and natural substrate based on rice (8.87x106) used as control. Finally, a quadratic model was generated and validated, obtaining productivities higher than 3.0x107 conidia/dry substrate•h with air flow at 0.9 m3/h and C:N ratio at 18.1.

Keywords: bioprocess, scale up, fractional design, C:N ratio, air flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 495

Authors: Cecília M. Antão, Paulo Jorge Nogueira

Abstract:

Breast cancer (BC) is the first cause of cancer mortality among Portuguese women. This retrospective observational study aimed at identifying comorbidities associated with BC female patients admitted to Portuguese public hospitals (2010-2018), investigating the effect of comorbidities on BC mortality rate, and building a predictive model using logistic regression. Results showed that the BC mortality in Portugal decreased in this period and reached 4.37% in 2018. Adjusted odds ratio indicated that secondary malignant neoplasms of liver, of bone and bone marrow, congestive heart failure, and diabetes were associated with an increased chance of dying from breast cancer. Although the Lisbon district (the most populated area) accounted for the largest percentage of BC patients, the logistic regression model showed that, besides patient’s age, being resident in Bragança, Castelo Branco, or Porto districts was directly associated with an increase of the mortality rate.

Keywords: breast cancer, comorbidities, logistic regression, adjusted odds ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Soumitr Sanjay Dubey, Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury, Rahul Shrestha

Abstract:

In this paper, we have presented a novel approach of calculating eigenvalues of any matrix for the first time on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using Triangular Systolic Arra (TSA) architecture. Conventionally, additional computation unit is required in the architecture which is compliant to the algorithm for determining the eigenvalues and this in return enhances the delay and power consumption. However, recently reported works are only dedicated for symmetric matrices or some specific case of matrix. This works presents an architecture to calculate eigenvalues of any matrix based on QR algorithm which is fully implementable on FPGA. For the implementation of QR algorithm we have used TSA architecture, which is further utilising CORDIC (CO-ordinate Rotation DIgital Computer) algorithm, to calculate various trigonometric and arithmetic functions involved in the procedure. The proposed architecture gives an error in the range of 10−4. Power consumption by the design is 0.598W. It can work at the frequency of 900 MHz.

Keywords: coordinate rotation digital computer, three angle complex rotation, triangular systolic array, QR algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 393

Authors: A. Soria-Verdugo, M. Rubio-Rubio, J. Arrieta, N. García-Hernando

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Combustion of biomass is a promising alternative to reduce the high pollutant emission levels associated to the combustion of fossil flues due to the net null emission of CO₂ attributed to biomass. However, the biomass selected should also have low contents of nitrogen and sulfur to limit the NO_x and SO_x emissions derived from its combustion. In this sense, olive stone is an excellent fuel to power combustion reactors with reduced levels of pollutant emissions. In this work, the combustion of olive stone particles is analyzed experimentally in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor (BFB). The bubbling fluidized bed reactor was installed over a scale, conforming a macro-TGA. In both equipment, the evolution of the mass of the samples was registered as the combustion process progressed. The results show a much faster combustion process in the bubbling fluidized bed reactor compared to the thermogravimetric analyzer measurements, due to the higher heat transfer coefficient and the abrasion of the fuel particles by the bed material in the BFB reactor.

Keywords: olive stone, combustion, reaction rate, fluidized bed

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: S. Ahmad, M. Rizwan, B. Ayub, S. Mehmood, P. Akhtar

Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementation of pure herbal blend on growth performance of boilers. One hundred and twenty birds were randomly distributed into 4 experimental units of 3 replicates (10 birds/replicate) as: negative control (basal diet), positive control (Lincomycin at the rate of 5g/bag), pure herbal blend at the rate of 150g/bag and pure herbal blend at the rate of 300g/bag. The data regarding weekly feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were recorded, and fecal samples were collected at the end of starter and finisher phase for nutrient digestibility trial. The results of feed intake showed significant (P < 0.05) results in 1st (305g), 2nd (696.88g), 3rd (1046.9g) and 4th (1173.2g) week and feed conversion ratio indicated significant (P < 0.05) variations in 1st (2.54) and 4th (2.28) week of age. Also, both starter and finisher phase indicated significant (P < 0.05) differences among all treatment groups in feed intake (2023.4g) and (2302.6g) respectively. The statistical analysis indicated significant (P < 0.05) results in crop filling percentage (86.6%) after 2 hours of first feed supplementation. In case of nutrient digestibility trial, results showed significant (P < 0.05) values of crude protein and crude fat in starter phase as 69.65% and 56.62% respectively, and 69.57% and 48.55% respectively, in finisher phase. Based on overall results, it was concluded that the dietary inclusion of pure herbal blend containing neem tree leaves powder, garlic powder, ginger powder and turmeric powder increase the production performance of broilers.

Keywords: neem tree leave, garlic, ginger, herbal blend, broiler

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Sneha Samal, Iva Petrikova, Bohdana Marvalova

Abstract:

Influence of grain size, shape and grain boundary diffusion at high temperature oxidation of pure metal is investigated as the function of microstructure evolution in this article. The oxidized scale depends on the geometrical parameter of the metal-scale system and grain shape, size, diffusion through boundary layers and influence of the contamination. The creation of the inner layer and the morphological structure develops from the internal stress generated during the growth of the scale. The oxidation rate depends on the cation and anion mobile transport of the metal in the inward and outward direction of the diffusion layer. Oxidation rate decreases with decreasing the grain size of the pure metal, whereas zinc deviates from this principle. A strong correlation between the surface roughness evolution, grain size, crystalline properties and oxidation mechanism of the oxidized metal was established.

Keywords: high temperature oxidation, pure metals, grain size, shape and grain boundary

Procedia PDF Downloads 477

Authors: Sheng-Bo Zhang, Huan-Hao Zhang, Zhi-Hua Chen, Chun Zheng

Abstract:

In this paper, the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability has been studied numerically by using the high-resolution Roe scheme based on the two-dimensional unsteady Euler equation, which was caused by the interaction between shock wave and the helium circular light gas cylinder with different component distributions. The numerical results further discuss the deformation process of the gas cylinder, the wave structure of the flow field and quantitatively analyze the characteristic dimensions (length, height, and central axial width) of the gas cylinder, the volume compression ratio of the cylinder over time. In addition, the flow mechanism of shock-driven interface gas mixing is analyzed from multiple perspectives by combining it with the flow field pressure, velocity, circulation, and gas mixing rate. Then the effects of different initial component distribution conditions on interface instability are investigated. The results show when the diffusion interface transit to the sharp interface, the reflection coefficient gradually increases on both sides of the interface. When the incident shock wave interacts with the cylinder, the transmission of the shock wave will transit from conventional transmission to unconventional transmission. At the same time, the reflected shock wave is gradually strengthened, and the transmitted shock wave is gradually weakened, which leads to an increase in the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. Moreover, the Atwood number on both sides of the interface also increases as the diffusion interface transit to the sharp interface, which leads to an increase in the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Therefore, the increase in instability will lead to an increase the circulation, resulting in an increase in the growth rate of gas mixing rate.

Keywords: shock wave, He light cylinder, Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, Gaussian distribution

Procedia PDF Downloads 61